Now that another tax season is coming to an end, I would like to take a moment to sincerely thank all of you for your trust, patience, and cooperation throughout this busy period.
A special thank you to everyone who followed our new procedures this year. I truly hope the process felt smoother, clearer, and easier to navigate on your end. Many of you received additional explanations, breakdowns, or video summaries regarding your tax returns, including how certain numbers were calculated and suggestions for future planning. My goal is always to help you better understand your financial picture, not just file the return.
Your feedback is incredibly valuable to me. If there is anything you feel could be improved, even to make it just 10% easier for both of us next year, I would genuinely appreciate hearing your thoughts and suggestions.
If you enjoyed working with our team this tax season, we would greatly appreciate a Google review. It helps us improve, and helps other business owners feel confident choosing professional support for their taxes and bookkeeping. This is the best way to say thank you to us.
Leave a Google ReviewSelf-employed filing deadline reminder
As we move into the spring and summer season, there are still a few personal tax files being finalized, particularly for self-employed individuals.
Understanding personal tax instalments
I also wanted to address a question that came up frequently this season regarding personal tax instalments.
Instalments are advance payments toward next year’s taxes, not “parts” of your current year balance.
If your balance owing for either of the previous two years exceeded $3,000, CRA may require you to make quarterly instalment payments.
If instalments are required and not paid, CRA may charge penalties and interest. CRA usually sends instalment reminders either by mail or through your CRA online account, including payment dates and suggested amounts. I strongly recommend paying close attention to those notices.
If you reasonably expect your 2026 income and tax balance owing to be significantly lower than in prior years, you may choose to adjust or reduce instalment payments. However, CRA interest may still apply if instalments are insufficient.
GST/HST on foreign subscriptions and online services
Another important update relates to GST/HST charged by foreign subscription providers and online services.
CRA has introduced a system called the Simplified GST/HST Registration. Some foreign companies providing subscriptions or digital services to Canadian businesses are now registered under this program. You may notice this if the business number includes “RT9999” after the regular business number, for example on software subscriptions like OpenAI.
In many cases, GST/HST charged under simplified registration systems may not qualify for input tax credits in the same way as standard GST/HST registrations. If you see this combination and HST is charged, we recommend contacting your service providers and giving them your GST/HST registration number. In many cases, they can remove tax charges from future invoices. If these charges occurred in the past and cannot be recovered, we will generally include the full amount as a business expense where appropriate.
CRA reference: Confirming a simplified GST/HST account number
CRA’s shift toward digital communication
Another recent update relates to CRA’s continued transition toward digital communication and payment systems. CRA continues encouraging taxpayers to move toward online payment methods, and some traditional in-person payment options may become more limited over time.
For those who may not know, CRA payments can be made through online banking, the CRA website, and also by credit card through approved payment providers such as PaySimply.
Especially during this time of year, we have noticed several situations where clients who were not subscribed to CRA online services or monitoring missed important correspondence from CRA. Recently, several clients received audit and review requests related to corporate tax return expenses without noticing the correspondence in time to respond comfortably. Likely there were no penalties imposed, as we were able to extend the deadline for submitting a response. Because CRA communication is becoming increasingly digital, it is more important than ever to ensure that notices, review letters, and requests for information are monitored and addressed promptly.
We continue to offer CRA Monitoring Services for both personal and corporate clients, helping ensure CRA correspondence is reviewed on time and any required responses are handled before deadlines become an issue. Reach out to Julia for more information.
Contact JuliaBookkeeping and corporate year-end reminders
For business clients, reminder emails are sent based on your fiscal year-end month.
- If you already provide bookkeeping documents regularly and we work on your file quarterly, you generally do not need to resend information already submitted
- Clients on annual services are kindly asked to confirm once documents have been uploaded or submitted
- This helps our team schedule work appropriately, especially during summer months when vacation schedules begin and workload planning becomes especially important
Our goal is always to ensure your filings are completed accurately and on time.
Once again, thank you for being part of this tax season with us. It is truly a pleasure to work with you, support your businesses and families, and help guide you through your taxes and financial matters.
Please remember that we are still accepting new corporate clients, so if you know someone who may benefit from our services, referrals are always appreciated.
I hope you enjoy the warmer season ahead, spend more time outdoors, and take some well-deserved time to recharge. After such a long winter, I think many of us truly missed the sunshine this year.
Warm regards from all of us,
Piligrim Accounting Team
